


Love Like You

by midnightdrops



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Analysis, Gen, I think that each lyric from Love Like You is a different Gem singing to Steven, Love like You, Mother-Son Relationship, and I just write that here, each chapter is a different Gem and will cover each lyric from the song that has been uploaded
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-12
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-26 05:55:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,682
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6226528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightdrops/pseuds/midnightdrops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Gems, and how Steven has influenced them, how he has taught each of them to love like him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Garnet

**Author's Note:**

> Hello guys! Lately I've been listening to the full version of "Love Like You" on repeat, and, instead of thinking how the entire song is sung from one person to another, I started to think that maybe each lyric is sung by a different Gem to Steven. Does that make sense? If not, then try reading? c: 
> 
> Each chapter is pretty short since there's only 6 lyrics of the song, so the fic will be finished rather soon. I hope y'all like it!

**Garnet** \- _If I could begin to be/half of what you think of me/I could do about anything/I could even learn how to love_

Garnet had experienced many things in her life. She had experienced death of her fellow Gems, watching how each and every one of the beings she had once seen as fellow comrades at war against each other, the destruction of each Gem causing her immense pain, regardless of the fact that it was necessary. She had seen these outcomes on each path the future could take, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

However Garnet had also experienced joy - joy of gaining new members on their team - a small amethyst whose strength rivaled no other, and later a small half-human child whose eyes sparkled every time he spoke.

Most importantly, though, Garnet had experienced love.

Ruby and Sapphire loved each other so much they couldn’t bear to be separated, thus providing the support for her existence. Steven thought it was the most romantic concept in the world, two beings together forever, never to break apart. As much as Garnet loved how Steven accepted her for it, she was afraid.

Afraid to tell Steven how Homeworld hadn’t accepted her the minute she had first formed, and afraid for him to hear about the terrible rules and class system of their Gem Homeworld. Afraid to tell him how she had been involved in the thousand-year war, and how she had to associated with the destruction of her fellow Gems and other innocent humans. She knew Steven was familiar with the war; how her, Pearl, and Steven’s mother were directly involved in the devastating event, yet he never saw her as someone horrible for it. His eyes continued to shine with happiness every time she smiled at him, or if they ever did something as simple as a high five. Garnet knew how highly Steven thought of her, and she didn’t understand why.

Steven had seen the extent of Garnet’s power before, specifically when she almost attacked him in front of the human children, thinking that he was Peridot inside her escape pod. Garnet had felt nothing but guilt afterwards, yet Steven just shook it off, giving her a tight hug and a loving smile.

Although Garnet was made of love, she was always in awe of Steven, and how easily accepting and loving he was - how _human_ he was.

Part of Rose or not, Garnet loved Steven.


	2. Lapis Lazuli

**Lapis -** _When I see/the way you act/wondering when I’m coming back/I could do about anything/I could even learn how to love like you_

She was indecisive about a lot of things, but one thing was for sure - Lapis had spent too long in that mirror. Once she heard someone talking to her in a tone that wasn’t similar to a command, she opened up and talked to him via his repeated words. She laughed for the first time in what seemed like ages and had fun with Steven, her “beach summer fun buddy”, until she came to know the group with whom he was affiliated.

She saw the trust in his eyes towards those Crystal Gems, and wondered how he could be so naive and believing in creatures that didn’t even care for their own kind. She didn’t understand how loving he could be.

She tried to leave using their ocean. She wanted to go home. She never believed in this place, this human-infested planet. The _Earth._

“I have healing powers!”

The words had shaken Lapis like a rude, unwelcome awakening. This boy, who she had laughed and played with, whose ocean she stole, had _healing powers_ that he was going to _use_ to help _her._

Wait, _what?_

She flew as far as she could, as fast as she could, to reach her Homeworld again. It wasn’t long until her absence was discovered, and she was assigned to a Jasper and a Peridot to attack Earth.

Once again, she was thrown around like an object, being grabbed and ordered around. As they landed on Earth she thought about Steven, and how she hoped he was alright, hoped that neither of the other Homeworld Gems would recognize him.

Soon yells turned into attacks, which led to the ship starting to spiral down into Earth’s atmosphere, crashing into the crust and causing her to fly out.

Once again, she tried to leave. She was pulled back down by harsh reality, was forced to form a fusion with her captor in order to save _him_.

To save _Steven_ , the first kind light she had been shown for thousands of years.

And yet he still kept coming back, breaking her focus and control of Malachite and Jasper, causing her to push him away so he could be safe. It hurt her to have to force him away, knowing that he was worried for her, wondering when she’d be able to come back free and safe, but for now she had to control this fusion. She had to. After that, maybe then she could actually learn how to love, or how to be loved.

Maybe she could learn how to love like Steven.


	3. Amethyst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Amethyst was a bit difficult for me since I have a hard time portraying her character. I hope you guys like it nonetheless! ^^

**Amethyst** \-  _ I always thought I might be bad/now I’m sure that it’s true/’cause I think you’re so good/And I’m nothing like you _

Amethyst thought that Steven was strange when she first saw him. When Greg, Pearl and Garnet all explained how fragile he was, she was confused. He had a quartz gem, he had Rose’s gem, so he was supposed to be strong and brave, right? Just like Rose?

Amethyst remembered when she was first found by the Crystal Gems, and how she learned that she came out of the Kindergarten centuries later than she should have. Although no one spoke ill of it, it caused her to see herself differently. Pearl would verbally marvel at how strong she was despite her small size, and Garnet would simply smile, patting her on the shoulder when Amethyst asked if she would ever be as tall as her. 

Rose, however, served as the ultimate role model for Amethyst. Tall, powerful, beautiful, unique, leader-like - she was the ultimate Quartz, and had every quality Amethyst strived for. Amethyst was short, had a whip for a weapon, and was deformed, overcooked. A common soldier. 

And then Steven, fragile, small, and soft, changed everything she ever thought. 

“Ame!” Steven, only a mere year and a half old, was moving restlessly in his crib when one day Amethyst walked past his room in the temple. “Ame!!”

Amethyst hesitated, knowing that Pearl didn’t trust her with the toddler - not alone, at least - since he was so small, but his struggling cries tugged at her heartstrings. She sighed and walked over, peering into the crib. 

“What’s wrong, l’il man?”

Steven continued to cry, moving his arms back and forth. Tears started to well up in his eyes and he let out a loud wail, sniffling as he looked up at her.

Amethyst frowned and glanced at the bedroom door. Pearl and Garnet were out performing their monthly check on the Homeworld warp pads, and Greg was working at his new car wash. What if she hurt him in some way, or her grip was too strong, or--

Steven’s bawling broke Amethyst’s thoughts and she sighed, leaning forward to pick him up. “Shh, what’s wrong?” She asked, bouncing him gently on her hip. “Shh, shh, it’s okay, Steven.”

Steven stopped crying, sniffling as snot and tears mixed on his face, trailing across his rosy cheeks. “A-Ame.”

“I don’t smell a dirty diaper,” she said, sniffing the air, “and I don’t think you’re hungry since you ate before Pearl and Garnet left.”

Steven didn’t reply but locked his arms around her shoulders, snuggling into her chest. His quiet sniffles were the only sound in the room and Amethyst’s shoulders relaxed. She kissed the top of his forehead and walked out of the room. “Let’s play with some toys, how ‘bout that?”


	4. Pearl

**Pearl -** _Look at you go/I just adore you/I wish that I knew/What makes you think I’m so special_

When she thinks about it, Pearl never walked along the path she was meant for. She was made to be a shiny object that exemplified one’s high status, a small trinket meant for just standing around. Yet she defied that ideal, that norm, and became a warrior that fought against her own Homeworld.

Thousands of years later, she was not just a warrior anymore, but now a mother as well.

As Steven ran around the beach, arms waving in the air as he chased Connie and a certain purple bird, Pearl felt the ends of her lips curve up into a small smile. 

Steven was raised to see Pearl as her own being, as her own Gem, as someone who tended to his cuts and bruises when he fell and someone who knew the way he loved to wear warm sweaters straight out of the dryer. She knew how much cinnamon was just enough to put in his hot chocolate, and how he loved to listen to stories of her and Rose and their travels, how they first formed the Crystal Gems and started the rebellion. 

Steven saw Pearl as her own person who was very, very special to him, but she could never figure out why. She had been raised to think that she was nothing, just someone’s trinket, and although centuries of fighting had suppressed that ideal, it found its way worming back into her mind from time to time.

Rose had claimed that Pearl was completely different, that  _ she  _ was special _ , _ but Pearl only agreed to that statement because Rose made her feel like she was everything. She figured it was because she was blinded by her love for Rose, but the moment a toddler Steven waddled up to her, holding up a crayon drawing of them as smiling stick-figures with a toothy, expectant grin, Pearl realized that she loved Steven, too. Both loves were of different sorts, but equally strong. 

She adored Steven like a mother would, and she would be there for him when Rose couldn’t. Not because it was her duty, or because he was Rose’s son - but because she genuinely loved him. Steven saw her as someone very special and important to him - a one-of-a-kind being that was irreplaceable for him, and that meant the world to Pearl.

Even if she didn’t understand it, she wholeheartedly appreciated it nonetheless. 


	5. Peridot

**Peridot -** _ If I could begin to do/Something that does right by you/I would do about anything/I would even learn how to love _

One thing Peridot didn’t understand very much was human emotions, and their logical - or,  _ illogical, _ as she thought  _ - _ tie to reason. 

Steven was always going on and on about how each character of  _ Camp Pining Hearts _ had a different backstory, was from a different place, and that those small details shaped them into who they were. Peridot, however, disagreed; that reasoning did not excuse Paulette from believing she and Percy could ever make a superb pairing. 

But the idea intrigued the green Gem - being different, being seen as one complete, unique being of your own. Back on her Homeworld, she was one of many peridots, identified by her cut and facet. 

Back when she first was forced into helping the  _ defects, _ everything foreign absolutely scared her. She wasn’t meant for this. The Earth was strange. She was made a technician, she didn’t  _ need _ to understand human emotions. 

But that was before she apparently “hurt Amethyst’s feelings”. She felt small, a sensation mirroring her short height and stature, as if she would never stand tall again, regardless how large her limb enhancers. 

That was before Steven explained storms to her, and she felt gratitude that, regardless of her prisoner-like status, someone took the time to calm her down, to show her that nothing was wrong. That she was safe.

That was before she beat Pearl in combat, but realized the taller Gem had already won. She felt humility, yet a surge of pride. 

That was before Garnet explained to her why she was fused all the time. Peridot didn’t understand how two beings could “love” each other so much, but she felt respect and acceptance. 

That was before Steven sang songs and danced with her, offering her a helping hand in this strange, strange world. It made her feel as if she was soaring through the galaxies of her Gem Homeworld, except this time she was grounded by the gravitational pull of the Earth. 

However that didn’t mean she was to allow emotion to rule out reason. 

_ “I spent all this time bonding and hoping and caring about you!” _

Eh, she’d understand emotions some day. Maybe then she’d actually understand what “love” was. Right now, though, she had a mission. 

And that mission was to save the Earth from the Cluster.


	6. Rose Quartz

**Rose Quartz-** _When I see the way you look/Shaken by how long it took/I could do about anything/I could even learn how to love like you_

Steven was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

He gurgled quietly in her arms, his chubby cheeks a deep rosy red and his eyes closed as he flailed blindly, small protests emitting from his mouth.

“Shh, shh,” she bounced him quietly, and could feel tears already forming in her eyes, “Steven, you’re so _perfect.”_

The newborn twitched at the sound, immediately moving towards her, and Rose sniffled. From the myriad of books both Pearl and Greg had shoved at her, she learned that human newborns were unable to see with all of the possible colors of the rainbow until six months, and that they couldn’t show any emotions except for distress when born. Although she couldn’t see it now, and knew she never could, she knew his smile would be perfect, just like him.

He would be the bridge between humanity and Gems, the perfect balance between the two realms and bring peace to both sides, to achieve levels of care even she could not, and he would do it with the love of a human. Love, which came so naturally to humans, would be his ultimate strength that she never had.

“I love you, Steven. Never forget that.” Rose whispered, and disappeared.

* * *

 

“Mom?”

Rose blinked, looking down at her hands, touching her face -- oh yes, that’s still my nose -- and oh, yes, my ears are intact -- and my eyes are wet -- oh, tears? Where did those --

“Mom?”

Rose looked up to see her son, her prodigy, her beautiful son, who she had sang to every night while she was pregnant, feeling him kick gently, and felt tears slipping down her cheeks.

He had given up his-- her-- no, _their_ gem, so that he could be fully human, and that she could be back. He was so selfless, kind, wonderful, _perfect--_

“Mom?”

He seemed so shaken, and so _broken_.

“Oh, Steven,” she reached forward for him, hugging him tightly. His own sobs were not muted by her own, but neither seemed to care. Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie and Greg simply watched, each wiping their own tears as mother and son hugged for the first time.

Rose learned everything. Through Steven’s existence, she learned about what it was like to be human, how easy it was to love and empathize, how _beautiful_ it was.

“Thank you, Steven,” she managed to whisper into his shoulder, her arms around him tightening.

Steven pulled away with a hiccup, sniffing noisily and wiping his runny nose on his shirt sleeve. Rose smiled and wiped away his tears, kissing his forehead.

“Mommy?” he sounded so broken, and Rose wanted nothing more than to fix that, to explain how _sorry_ she was he had to grow up without her, how _much_ she _loved_ him. “I-I...”

“I love you, Steven,” Rose faltered, pulling him into a tight hug again, her sobs mirroring his own, “I love you, my son.”

Steven just nodded, not pulling away from his mother. “I love you too, Mom.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Were you expecting an unhappy ending? ;) 
> 
> And there we are, the end of this fic! Thanks so much for all the kudos and comments, they really make my day when I see them (: If you guys want some angst, I just wrote+uploaded another fic called "Forever in a Day", where Steven dies, Rose returns and the Gems cope. It's an angsty little one-shot (I made a few people cry, hooray!), nothing too big. 
> 
> Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed this story! Any comments or feedback would be greatly appreciated!! :D ♥


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